Automatic bootstrapping of openflow networks

Sachin Sharma, Dimitri Staessens, Didier Colle, Mario Pickavet, Piet Demeester

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

OpenFlow decouples the control plane functionality from switches, and embeds it into one or more servers called controllers. One of the challenges of OpenFlow is to deploy a network where control and data traffic are transmitted on the same channel (in-band mode). Implementing such an in-band mode is complex, since switches have to search and establish a path to the controller (bootstrapping) through the other switches in the network. In this paper, we propose a method that facilitates this automatic bootstrapping of switches. In this method, the controller establishes its own control network through the neighbor switches that are connected to it by the OpenFlow protocol. We measure suitability of the proposed method by performing bootstrapping experiments in different types of topologies: linear, ring, star and mesh topologies. The experimental results show that the proposed method allows bootstrapping in a minimal time, which makes it suitable even for a large network.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2013 19th IEEE Workshop on Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, LANMAN 2013
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes
Event2013 19th IEEE Workshop on Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, LANMAN 2013 - Brussels, Belgium
Duration: 10 Apr 201312 Apr 2013

Publication series

NameIEEE Workshop on Local and Metropolitan Area Networks
ISSN (Print)1944-0367
ISSN (Electronic)1944-0375

Conference

Conference2013 19th IEEE Workshop on Local and Metropolitan Area Networks, LANMAN 2013
Country/TerritoryBelgium
CityBrussels
Period10/04/1312/04/13

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